Fourth of July
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t h i r t e e n

"Woohoo, bitches!" Joe yells, passing around the case of beer. Andy politely refuses, as does Patrick, but I take two, handing one to Patrick. We're having a huge party in celebration of us getting a break from tour. We graduate in a week, and I'm nervous. Elisa is nowhere to be found, so I offer him the drink.

"Come on, man. It's not the Fourth of July if you don't drink. Well, unless you're Andy," Andy shoots me a grin but gestures for Patrick to drink it.

"You sure?" He asks Andy.

"Yes, I'm sure, PStump. Just drink it," Patrick looks skeptical, but he nods and drinks it anyways.

Two hours later, we were both drunk out of our minds.

"C-Come on," He pulls me with him around the house, where no one is.

"'Rick, what are you--" He kisses me to stop me from talking, pushing me up against the house. I relax against him and kiss back.

One hand curls around my hip and the other curls around the back of my neck. I like rough Patrick.

I hear a gasp, making me pull back, but Patrick still kisses down my neck. "Oh my gosh, Patrick! You asshole!" Elisa pulls him away from me and slaps him.

"Elisa, it's--" He tries, but she looks at him, eyes filled with disgust.

"Don't you fucking tell me it's not what it looks like," Then she turns to me. "I shouldn't be surprised. How long has this been going on?"

"I, uh, how long have you and Patrick been dating?" She looks astonished and slaps Patrick again. "Don't call me, alright?"

He just stands there and watches her walk off, looking back at me once she's out of sight. "I-I fucked up," He runs a hand through his blue hair. "Really bad,"

"It'll be okay, 'Rick," I try to pat his back, but he just moves, shaking his head.

"She was my girlfriend, Pete. I loved her," I try to ignore the blow my heart takes from that last sentence.

"Yeah, of course you did. That's why you cheated on her with me. I'm about tired of your shit, Patrick," He comes closer to me and raises his fist as I back against the wall. "Do it, Patrick. Hit me," He sighs and hits the wall beside my head instead.

"Fuck you," He snarls and pushes me back against the wall, making me hit my head.

"Ah, shit," I fall to the ground, my hand immediately going to the back of my head. I feel the sticky liquid and see it when I pull my hand back around.

"Fuck, Pete," He sits beside me, moving my hands away from my head.

"Pat-Patrick," I say, giggling.

"Shh, you'll be okay," He takes his shirt off and wraps it around my head.

"You're pretty, Patrick," I touch his ribs, running my hand up and down across his body. He shivers. "I'm tired, Patrick," I yawn.

"No, Pete, fuck. Stay awake for me, baby," He plays with my hair.

"I love you, Patrick," I say as my eyes flutter closed. I expect to hear a faint 'I love you, too,' but I don't.

Instead I hear, "No, Pete, please,"

--

When I wake up, bright lights blind me. I can't say anything, but I hear a familiar voice yelling. Well, it seems familiar.

"What do you mean he might not wake up?!" The voice yells. A guy with blue hair walks into my room, tears staining his face. Even like this, he's gorgeous. "Wait, doctor!" He yells again, going out of the room.

I groan as the doctor rushes into the room. "Peter, how do you feel?" The doctor shines a light in my eyes. I touch my throat, opening my mouth. "Oh no," The gorgeous guy with the blue hair appears beside her.

"No, no, no. What do you mean 'oh no'?" He's got his hands in his hair now, tugging on the little blue strands.

"He's not able to speak, Mr. Stump, which means that he probably doesn't have any memory. He could not remember five years, five months, or five days," The doctor says. My eyebrows furrow. What is she talking about?

"Shit. You're saying he doesn't know who I am, right?" The guy -- Stump -- asks, sitting in the chair beside my bed.

"I'm saying it's possible," The doctor frowns at me before turning to Stump. "Maybe you should call someone else here to talk to him," She suggests, walking out of the room without a response.

Stump tugs on his hair again before turning to me. "I'm guessing you don't know who I am, right?" I nod. "Shit,"

He gets up and paces back and forth, cursing to himself every few minutes. About an hour later, Andy walks in with a guy with cool hair behind him.

What happened to Andy's long hair and snakebites? Is that a tattoo on his neck? My mind is racing, and I'm, honestly, really confused.

"Peter," And yep, that's good. I know who Andy is. I smile at him, and he sighs in relief before turning to deal with Stump. "Have you introduced yourself to him?" Stump shakes his head, peaking around Andy to look at me.

"I, uh, I'm Patrick Stump, and I guess I'm the closest thing you've had to a boyfriend in a while. A shitty one, but I hope to make up for that," Patrick smiles at me, warm, but it doesn't meet his eyes. I can see that he's on edge. I dated him? He can do so much better than me.

Since I cannot speak, I wave, and he seems to relax a bit more. Boyfriend, huh? I've never really dated a guy. I mean, sure, I've fucked plenty of them, but I don't think I've ever gotten serious with one. My attention moves to the guy with the cool hair for the moment. I still don't know him.

"Oh, okay. This is my boyfriend, Joe Trohman," Cool hair guy -- Joe -- flashes me a bright smile, and it's the realest thing I've seen all day. Joe's a good guy, I can tell.

"What happened?" I mouth. Andy sighs and looks at Patrick, who drops his head in his hands.

"I think Joe and I are going to go get you something from the cafeteria. 'Rick can explain anything you want to know," Patrick's head snaps up as he watches Andy and Joe leave.

"Holy smokes, Pete," Patrick is leaning over my bed now, and my focus is on his mouth. His lips that are red and plump and really kissable. Patrick has to lean across me to grab something, and when he tries to sit back down, I grab his shirt. "What are you doing?" He sounds really confused.

I look in Patrick's eyes. He looks stressed -- probably over this whole situation -- and, in all honesty, maybe a kiss would help.

I lean in, and our lips meet slowly, his hands going up to my cheeks. He's a good kisser, I'll give him that. It takes my breath away.

I really enjoy the fact that he has a lipring because it's really hot. Sure, I usually go for the ones covered in tattoos, but this one is gorgeous.

Andy and Joe walk in a few minute later as Patrick's tongue meets mine. I moan, blushing when Andy says, "Whoa there, tiger," which makes Patrick pull away, a tint of red to his own cheeks.

"Did you tell him what happened?" Joe asks Patrick. Patrick shakes his head, earning a glare from Andy.

"I was going to, but then I reached across him to grab the bandages because the doctor said to change him, and Pete kissed me," Patrick says, hand on his lips. Andy smiles smugly at me.

"Oh sure, blame everything on the wounded," I say. Everyone nods before Patrick looks back at me.

"Wait, did you just talk?" He asks me, almost not believing it himself.

"I think so," Andy smiles again, Joe fist-pumps the air, and Patrick kisses me again. "You two catch up. I'll go get Doctor Monroe,"

Joe looks at us kind of awkwardly, not wanting to ruin our moment, I guess. I pull away from Patrick first, after the doctor is already in the room.

"I see you've been using your time wisely, Mr. Wentz," She winks at me, making Patrick blush. He's really cute.

"I've been trying," I smile at Patrick, but he's looking at the doctor to confirm that I'm not going to die from whatever happened here.

"I can't promise you anything about your memory, but if you try and go back step by step, it might speed up recovery. You will be released tomorrow morning, but I'll need a guardian to stay and keep watch," The doctor explains.

"I'll do it," Patrick volunteers, meeting my eyes for the first time since we kissed.

"Any other questions?" When no one says anything, she smiles once more before leaving the room.

"Visiting hours are almost over," Andy says, looking at his phone. "Joe and I are gonna jet, but let us know if either one of you need anything," I nod my head, and Patrick tries to get comfortable in the hospital chair.

"You're not leaving with them?" I ask, flipping the TV channel.

"I've stayed with you for the past two days, so why would I leave today?" He shrugs as if it's no big deal.

"Why?" I ask, turning towards him.

"It was, kind of, my fault," He says quietly, looking anywhere but at me. "I got pissed and pushed you against a wall, making you hit your head. I brought you to the hospital and walked around without a shirt on until I got ahold of Andy and Joe yesterday,"

"Wait, why were you shirtless? I mean, not that I'm complaining because you're gorgeous and all, but I'm just curious," He takes a deep breath.

"You were bleeding, and I-I got nervous. I didn't have anything else to try and stop the bleeding so I took off my shirt, wrapped it around you, and drove you here," He explains. That was really nice of him. "You don't have to call me gorgeous. I'm an asshole to you anyways," He looks down at his feet.

"But you are gorgeous," I say, lifting his chin and turning him towards me. I lean in and kiss him, his arms immediately coming around my neck. "Come here," I say against his mouth, grabbing his waist. I pull him closer to me, at least until he lies down beside me.

"Pete, I'm not fucking you in this hospital," He says. I laugh, mouth still pressed against his. I pull away abruptly realising what he just said.

"Wait, what? You top?" He rolls his eyes and kisses me again.

"I'm the top, and you love it," He pulls away and curls his body around mine.

"You're the big spoon too?" I whine. He laughs into my hair before shushing me. I drift off to sleep a few minutes later, Patrick pressed tightly against me.